Raver Magazine

In a world where adversity and diversity constantly threaten to tear us apart, dance music culture has always provided a safe haven of unity. Felix Cartal emulates this feeling in his new release “Hold Tight,” the B-side track to his recent hit “Get What You Give.” Though the track only possesses one lyrical sampling—its namesake “Hold Tight“—it conveys an emotionally powerful message through its euphoric and yet wistful melodies. It’s a song for the tough times, when everyone needs to know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel; it’s a song for the good times, too, when it seems as though life couldn’t possibly be better. I liked the Hold Tight phrase, which I sampled from “Get What You Give“a theme,” says Felix, “I think embraces are very powerful, and the mood of the song has this sort of unresolved feeling – like we are all searching for a moment of togetherness.” This one could be a tear-jerker or a complete bliss-out experience at a live show. In either case, Cartal proves that sometimes, all you need is a hug. “Hold Tight” is released in collaboration between Polydor Records, Capitol Records, and Physical Presents.

With his dreamy, melodic and yet dance-floor friendly sound, Felix Cartal has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in modern dance music. His Spotify channel has garnered over 45 million streams, and his track “Killing Time” with R3hab reached over 4 million streams just a few weeks after its release. Felix’s appeal lies in his ability to convey complex emotions through his music, like the hopeful angst of his recent release “Get What You Give,” leaving listeners with a positive emotional catharsis. To this effect, “Get What You Give” has soared to the #1 spot on Sirius XM Chill and the Hype Machine and is quickly climbing the Canadian Top 40 radio chart. With such immense recent successes, we can’t wait to see what’s next for Felix Cartal. Catch him on one of his North American tour dates this fall to experience the magic for yourself.

Notorious party starter Dirty Audio is back with his newest tune “Mob,” and it’s guaranteed to gear you up for a night of bottles, beats, and debauchery. Dirty teamed up with up-and-coming bass producer Carbin and rapper iE-Z for the track, creating a winning combination of metallic basslines, electrifying synths and rhythmic vocal verses. After one listen you’ll be rolling to the club in no time. iE-Z and Dirty Audio worked together on their recent single “Hit It” with Deorro, which garnered over 12 million streams on Spotify. Though Carbin is a newcomer to the industry, the young American producer has already gained support from heavyweights like Excision, Datsik and Adventure Club. “Mob” follows Dirty Audio‘s recent remix of GRiZ‘s groovy “Wicked” and the festival bomb “Firewalker,” proving once again that there is literally no sound this dynamic producer can’t conquer!

Dirty Audio has been crushing the game over the last year and a half, with some of the most explosive tracks in bass and electro music. Dirty Audio‘s previous tracks include an explosive remix of Afrojack‘s “Used to Have It All,” a remix of Yellow Claw‘s “Ocho Cinco” and his original production with Max Styler, “Roller Coaster.” All three releases were extraordinarily well received by fans and industry tastemakers alike, bolstering Dirty Audio‘s resume as he blazes full steam ahead through the second half of 2017. He went on tour in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year and recently debuted in Asia at WOMB Tokyo, bringing his electrifying live sets to all corners of the globe. Next, he takes the stage at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in California on October 14th, followed by EDC Orlando on November 10th before he jets off to Australia to play two days of Earthcore Festival in Brisbane this December. Catch Dirty Audio‘s legendary live sets if you can this fall or simply press play on his new releases and imagine you’re part of the experience.

Bass music champions Snails and NGHTMRE have come together for their first-ever collaboration of epic proportions with “Only Want U” featuring vocals from Akylla. Drawing from each of their signature sounds, “Only Want U” is the perfect fusion of dirty bass lines, anthemic build ups and speaker-shattering drops.

“Only Want U” is the second release off Snails’ debut album The Shell. To coincide with the album, Snails will embark on his massive ‘The Shell’ global tour, which just announced three additional dates in Los Angeles, Orange County and Las Vegas. Full list of dates below and tickets are onsale now here.

Fresh off his “Embrace” collaboration with Australian duo Carmada, NGHTMRE also just announced an exciting NGHTMRE Before Xmas Tour. Tickets on sale here and full list of dates for both tours below.

Tens of thousands of animals converged onto Randall’s Island over Labor Day weekend to celebrate their love of dance music underneath the famed New York City skyline. This year, we experienced beautiful weather, as well as total downpours; the famed plush blanket of green grass, as well as mud puddles galore. No matter what though, we found the beauty in it all and gathered with new friends and old to dance all day and night. We even saw a select few brushing up on their puddle jumping skills!

Each year this festival just gets better and better. One change this year that we greatly enjoyed was the demise of “EZOO Bucks”. The festival is cashless, which is something we always loved (less things to stuff into your pockets!), but the former island currency was just plain confusing. This year everything was in dollar amounts so it made adding money onto your bracelet very simple because you were able to guesstimate a lot better for how much you thought you would spend at the festival. We’re here for the music, not for the math games!

We loved the stages this year and how they really incorporated New York City into the designs. The hospitality was top notch – always full of friendly faces happy to help. EZoo has some of the best choices we’ve seen for food vendors and this year did not disappoint at all. Although we admittedly did not venture farther than our beloved Big Mozz, there truly was something for everybody to enjoy. And the talent? We heard repeatedly from festival-goers throughout the three days that this was simply the best lineup the festival had ever had. And we just have to agree with everyone on that!

Top 5 Sets

Armin Van Buuren

No surprise here – once again this man stole the show! Armin seems to have completely perfected the art of grabbing his audience and telling us all a beautiful story through his sets. We came ready for A State of Trance and Armin gave us that and so much more, even giving nod of appreciation to those New York fans who had followed him since his career starts in the city that never sleeps.

Deadmau5 & Eric Prydz

Two legends in a b2b set to close out this festival…all we had to say was “hit me with those laser beams!” The visuals were spot on and the bass was heavy and this set was jam-packed with 90 minutes of pure techno heaven.

Above & Beyond

What’s more beautiful than experiencing an Above & Beyond set? An Above & Beyond set in the rain. The visuals amidst the rain created a glitter-like effect above the loyal crowd who braved the cold and rain to experience this masterpiece of a set. The trio has had some run-ins with the rain in a number of other festival appearances this year, but we think the EZoo crowd was lucky to experience the beauty that the rain brought to this set.

Tritonal

Being self-admitted Tritonians, we were super excited to catch this set. We had such a blast during their set that we decided to catch them for round 2 as they headlined Marquee for an after party Saturday night. Marquee is always a fantastic time. Add Tritonal to the mix and we knew we were in for an awesome party!

Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano

WHOA. This set completely defined ‘Sexy by Nature’! Sunnery and Ryan really came to party today and they had the whole crowd grooving. It’s all about the energy and these two meshed perfectly with the crowd. We had the opportunity to catch up with the guys after their set – be sure to read up on how they come to truly defining their sets.

One by one the animals retreated off the island at the end of the 2017 installment of EZoo, bringing with them many memories made on the island during the weekend, as well as some muddy shoes that would likely need some cleaning. One thing is for certain – we can’t wait until Electric Zoo opens its doors to us all again!